Sad story from Waterville (unemployed, living, health)

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by chaosX5

It's happening everywhere..........economically challenged or not. Just my $0.02

Coast - to - coast.

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by OutDoorNut

There's been a growing number of home invasions in Maine, from the news reports I've seen.

There's a story about a home invasion suspect in today's Bangor Daily News: Probe into home invasion leads to additional charges for incarcerated man - Bangor Daily News (http://www.bangordailynews.com/story/Greater-Bangor/Probe-into-home-invasion-leads-to-additional-charges-for-incarcerated-man,163746 - broken link)

On Dec. 14, two men knocked on the door of the Newton Street residence and asked for help, saying their car had broken down. One of them then tried to break in but was fought off by the homeowner, police say.
A husband and wife who were not identified reside in the home, Bangor police Sgt. Chip Hodges said at the time of the crime. The 911 call for help was made around 6 p.m. Dec. 14.

“The call came from her while he was having the altercation with the intruders,” Hodges said.

The two men “told the resident that their car had broken down and they needed to use a telephone,” the sergeant said. “When the resident reached inside to get a portable phone, one of the males tried to force his way into the house. The resident was able to fight off the subjects.”

The intruders then took off on foot. The husband suffered a minor injury during the altercation, Hodges said.

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In a nation where the Unadjusted Unemployment rate exceeds 23% and holds at that level for over a year; these crimes will occur.

I would imagine they will become more common.

Unless our unemployment rate drops to below 20%.

[OutDoorNut]

Originally Posted by forest beekeeper

In a nation where the Unadjusted Unemployment rate exceeds 23% and holds at that level for over a year; these crimes will occur.

I would imagine they will become more common.

Unless our unemployment rate drops to below 20%.

I suspect there's more to it than people needing money. It's why they need the money.

Drugs must be a big part of it.

Some of the crimes are so stupid or so dangerous, that the perps had to be so high on drugs they couldn't think clearly or didn't care about being caught or confronting the victim.

Scary.

[Mark S.]

Originally Posted by forest beekeeper

In a nation where the Unadjusted Unemployment rate exceeds 23% and holds at that level for over a year; these crimes will occur.

I would imagine they will become more common.

Unless our unemployment rate drops to below 20%.

I don't buy that. 23% unemployment means that 1 in 4 people are out of work. I don't see that anywhere in the country, and certainly not in Maine.

[221B]

Originally Posted by Mark S.

I don't buy that. 23% unemployment means that 1 in 4 people are out of work. I don't see that anywhere in the country, and certainly not in Maine.

In my neck of the woods, here in SoCal, a cursory, subjective look around the employment market absolutely indicates a 23% unemployment rate measured across folks who are looking for work.
Just a casual, local observation.

[NrthernNewEnglandVillages]

Mark S., I believe forest beekeeper is referencing the U6 unemployment rate which is the most comprehensive definition of unemployment. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics: U-6, total unemployed, plus all marginally attached workers, plus total employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all marginally attached workers.

According to the latest state-by-state data, Maine's U6 is 15.2 percent versus 16.8 percent for all states. In comparison, U3 (the standard unemployment rate) in Maine was 8.4 percent. So U6 is almost twice the standard unemployment rate in Maine.

So it's not 20 plus percent, but it's certainly up in the nose-bleed section.

Here is the link:
Alternative Measures of Labor Underutilization for States

Oh, and drugs are a significant part of this . . . northern Maine, like many rural areas, has a crystal meth issue.

[Mark S.]

I you're talking about the UNDERemployed, that's a different thing altogether, and numbers approaching 23% in some areas wouldn't surprise me. But UNDERemployed and UNemployed are 2 different things.

[hinher]

Originally Posted by NrthernNewEnglandVillages

Oh, and drugs are a significant part of this . . . northern Maine, like many rural areas, has a crystal meth issue.

Really? I was under the impression that Maine had one of the lowest rates of meth use in the country. Is this no longer true? I herd some rumors of meth pills in the county though.

[OutDoorNut]

Originally Posted by hinher

Really? I was under the impression that Maine had one of the lowest rates of meth use in the country. Is this no longer true? I herd some rumors of meth pills in the county though.

I don't know about meth, but according to what I just read in the Bangor Daily News, "Maine tops nation in prescription drug abuse"

"Maine, notorious in some circles for having given rise to a national epidemic of painkiller abuse and addiction, now officially tops the nation in the percentage of residents seeking treatment for addiction to prescription narcotics.

"A recent report from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration shows that since 1998, Mainers have consistently sought treatment for addiction to non-heroin opiates — such as the popular painkiller OxyContin — at rates significantly higher than in other states or in the nation as a whole"

Link to complete article: Maine tops nation in prescription drug abuse - Bangor Daily News (http://www.bangordailynews.com/story/Statewide/Maine-tops-nation-in-prescription-drug-abuse,163035 - broken link)



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[Submariner]

I do not know about 'under-employed' people.

I was watching a page on the DOL website that showed the projected number of 'unemployed' people in the nation. 'Unemployed' meaning adults with no job, no pension, no disability. In March of 2010 the DOL took down that webpage. They stopped showing the public the unadjusted numbers.

The last that they admitted to was 23%.

Then a few weeks ago I heard one congressman in an interview where he said that in a briefing he got from the DOL the 'Unemployed' number nationwide was still around 23%

I was not saying Unemployed in any context that would have included under-employed.

May God bless you.